At 2:01 a.m. Thursday, Melina Sophia Esparza took her first breaths in a delivery room at Community Medical Center in Toms River. At that moment, the 7-pound, 3-ounce baby girl — named for a song and a Disney princess — became the first baby born in 2015 at a hospital in Ocean County.

Melina is the third baby for Jaritza Lopez, 21, of Lakewood and the first child of Lopez's husband Martin Esparza.

A 15-year-old girl was manufacturing a form of highly-concentrated THC, an intoxicating drug derived from marijuana, in the garage of a Leguene Avenue home, police said in a news release.

The girl — who was not named because she is a juvenile — was making a wax resin drug called "dabs" using butane hash oil, according to township police. To manufacture the dabs, a butane solvent is used to extract THC from raw marijuana, police said. The butane used in the processing is highly flammable.

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Three people, including a pregnant woman, were hospitalized Wednesday evening after two cars collided head-on at Jackson Mills Road near Geisler Road, police said.(Photo: File photo)

Three people, including a pregnant woman, were hospitalized Wednesday evening after two cars collided head-on at Jackson Mills Road near Geisler Road, police said.

Shabbir Abbas, 22, of Woodbridge was driving southbound on Jackson Mills Road when his car crossed the center line at about 7:50 p.m. and collided head-on with a northbound vehicle, Freehold Police Detective Sgt. Jerry Kiwit said.

In this Jan. 7, 2009 photo, former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo at the Capitol in Albany. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)(Photo: AP)

Mario Cuomo, the three-term New York governor and father of the state's current governor, died Thursday at the age of 82, according to multiple media reports.

Cuomo is among the most iconic New York governors of the 20th century, known for his liberal views, soaring speeches and deeply held beliefs that made him among the most prominent Democrats of his time. His death came the same day as his son, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was inaugurated for a second term.

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New Year's Day plungers hit the frigid ocean surf to benefit the Sons of Ireland charity.
STAFF VIDEO BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO

Even though he'd just completed his sixth New Year's dive into the sea, Ocean Township resident Joe Riepl insisted he was not cold as he stood, sopping wet, on the beach.

"The air is warmer than the water so it doesn't feel that bad," Riepl, 33, said moments after jumping into the ocean as part of the annual Sons of Ireland Polar Bear Plunge. Six years ago, Riepl took part in the plunge on a dare. Now it's become a family tradition. He said 12 family members went into the water Thursday, when ocean temperatures hovered in the mid-40s.

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Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno stands for the Pledge of Allegiance, Thursday, January 1, 2015, at the start of the Shrewsbury Township reorganization meeting at the municipal building. Jason Towlen/Staff Photographer

Alfred Melillo signs his oath of office after being sworn-in as committee chairman/mayor, Thursday, January 1, 2015, during the Shrewsbury Township reorganization meeting at the municipal building. Jason Towlen/Staff Photographer

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The change in committee control from Democrat to Republican in the 0.1 square-mile Township of Shrewsbury left several annual appointments unfilled at Thursday's organization meeting, including township attorney, engineer and auditor.

Republican Maryellen McNama-Bailly was sworn in to her first term on the committee by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, and will serve as deputy mayor on the three-person committee. Republican Alfred Melillo was nominated as chairman of the township committee, also the role as mayor.